For fiction writers, emotion is both essential and tricky territory. Overplay it and we risk melodrama; neglect it and our stories have little impact, low stakes, no heart. This session will look at how various authors have effectively approached "the feels" in fiction. We'll identify strategies for when to show and when to tell, how to access emotionally detached or inarticulate characters, and how to capture emotional changes over time; as well as what other literary forms/genres can teach us about evoking fictional feelings. Attendees will leave with exercises, prompts, and suggestions for further reading on this topic.

Mia Alvar's collection of short stories, In the Country, won the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction, the University of Rochester's Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize, and the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award. | | Mia has been a writer in residence at the Corporation... Read More →